Like many of us, I consume what I consider to be a disturbing amount of media compared to any of my ancestors. There has never been a time before today, before this moment right now, where there was more content available to absorb to the average American. Even excluding the internet (just as a delivery method let alone a content generator) the quantity of music, movies, shows, books, comics, and et cetera has never been higher. Ever. And tomorrow, there will be even more. On one hand, this is just all too much and a person simply cannot handle this much input. On the other hand, it points towards a highly creative and highly productive society in which us humans have a strange inherent need to story-tell, escape from reality, express emotion, or catalogue everything we come into contact with. It is these needs combined with the current quantity of media that to me has re-defined the concept of “The Nerd.”
From past to present, the title of Nerd has evolved its general iterations with a distinct throughline: The person labelled a Nerd was assumably a subject matter expert of some kind. In modern times the idea of a Nerd has taken on so much of a colloquial use that many people pridefully claim something that they identify themselves as being a “total nerd about.” I believe this notion would classically be known as simply having hobbies but now with the Information Age’s added layers of expected knowledge recall and an adoption of social identity or even social status. To that end, the self-proclamation of being a “Nerd” now carries an expectation of subject matter expertise that would never be considered commonplace before the Information Age. This is a far cry from an earlier definition of a Nerd in which more simply implied a certain level of social ineptitude compared to technical aptitude.
These days any combination of person and topic can ostensibly be projected as something to “be a nerd about.” Subsequently adopting vast amounts of information and shaping one’s expressive motifs to carry that mantel. That is, at the very least, adopting enough so the immediate judges in one’s life accept such esteemed titling as a Nerd. With the concept of being a self-proclaimed subject matter expert on a given topic comes the projective behavior of showing just how much one “knows” on said topic. One quick way to project Nerd-levels of knowledge (with or without actually having it) is the ability to recall Easter Eggs “hidden” across a given subject or media that allow one to quickly show-off their possession of intricate or interesting details. Or at least that’s the pretentious behavior I’m sure I’ve taken part in. (Who’s projecting what now?) I recognize that this is a cynical generalization of these concepts given there must be a diverse population of nerds who avoid any form of projecting or publicizing themselves. The point I am making here is that the term “nerd” has evolved in its commonality to be used as a projection device at all. That said, I’ve required the Nerd subject here because I believe it lends credibility to how knowledge was collected for my main point.
However, it is the Easter Egg not just the concept of nerd culture I’d like to focus on here. This text isn’t meant for defining and exploring the concept of a nerd but having a basic understanding of it is key to the modern concept of an Easter Egg.
For the uninitiated (The Noobs, as it were) here are some word-nerds attempting to authoritatively define the modern day Easter Egg:
Merriam-Webster: A hidden feature in a commercially released product (such as software or a DVD)
Cambridge Dictionary: A hidden surprise or extra feature that is included in something such as a computer game, a piece of software, or a film, for the person using or watching it to find and enjoy.
Dictionary.com: Refers to digital technology and means “an extra feature, as a message or video, hidden in a software program, computer game, DVD, etc., and revealed as by an obscure sequence of keystrokes, clicks, or actions.
Here is my own attempt at a broader definition based on the theme that seems to remain the same throughout: Something of interest that has been hidden in relative plain sight, but is technically meant to be found through a deeper contextual knowledge beyond the environment in which it was placed.
One easily understood example of an Easter Egg can be found in the original 1982 film, Tron. In the technologically groundbreaking film there is a shot in which a map of the digital world in which they inhabit is briefly on a monitor. On this map is an obvious tongue-in-cheek yet absolutely out of place Pac-man. The shot even includes Power Pellets about to be eaten. More so, the film literally plays the famous “Wocka Wocka” noises in the background during the shot. Other than being a popular video game in real life and this movie being about living inside a video game, Pac-man has absolutely nothing to do with the story. Its just there to be there. Its justified immediately once discovered because people know gamers would see this film and that this would be an emotional connection point for that demographic even if you were only vaguely aware of what Pac-man was. Again though, assuming they caught it. Back in the 80’s, Eggs were used with a bit less subtlety than today but lets see if you can ‘find’ Pac-man in this shot below:
To my surprise looking up a video of this scene, I found that people today are still just finding out about this reference. Despite the movie being decades-old now and repeatedly viewed by millions. This though, is a pure example of the modern “Easter Egg.” And only the best of the Tron lovers know about it and all the other Eggs present throughout the film. Otherwise, as discussed above, you are simply a Noob. Not a Nerd. In this culture, for better and for worse, Gatekeeper is a strangely revered title. One would think otherwise though. So, with the short lore about Nerds and Eggs stated, its time to pivot. Its a hard pivot too. Sorry, not sorry.
I’ve spent most of 2024 diving into historical accounts leading up to global conflicts through the lens of the modern Easter Egg-hunting Nerd. During this I also continued my usual avidly consumed news and current affairs diet. And you know what? The results are fucking horrifying. While I don’t have any sort of journalistic expertise to dive into all the numerous examples I’ve seen or felt, I’d like to focus on what feels to me like one of the most glaring and audacious ones. Before I get into this, I would like to reiterate my personal definition of “Easter Egg” as mentioned prior:
Something of interest that has been hidden in relative plain sight, but is technically meant to be found through a deeper contextual knowledge beyond the environment in which it was placed.
With that definition in mind the themes that attempt to propagate or normalize an anti-democratic sentiment are the ones keeping me up at night. I grew up in an America that openly indoctrinated at least one thing into as many kids as possible, Democracy. Not just the idea but that specifically American-styled democracy works enough-so and is the foundation of our society in which lets one (sometimes aimlessly) enjoy their life. All our history books portrayed every non-democratic institution as something of the past and uncivilized. Of course, by the time one gets to high school that binary reality begins to fray with increasing knowledge of the world. Regardless, something I know was impressed upon me during that time was that Democracy is our way of life. Democracy is the best choice among a terrible selection of alternatives to avoid most of the brutality and unfairness that societies tend to create amongst themselves. There is a reason why it would should be controversial to say “I believe in authoritarianism.” compared to saying “I believe in democracy.” Of those two statements, the latter, for most of my imprinting years, was a given. It was a baseline notion that we knew at least everyone believed and could start from.
Beginning in 2016, I’ve found numerous Easter Eggs from fellow Americans who appear to sympathize with previous attempts to change America from its democratic system to something entirely without any representative egalitarianism, or whatever one might be titling that this week. Antithetically so, there have even been numerous occasions in which it was blatant. To me, this feels ‘unprecedented.’ But I am finding out that its not. This isn’t the first time this has happened in our country’s history and hopefully democracy survives enough to say that it wont be the last either. This just happens to be my cohort’s first tango with defending democracy to the levels exceeded only by generations prior. Namely, the ones who experienced full consciousness during a lead up to national or global level conflicts.
Less and less people seem to have worn shared a uniform of the United States. I know I didn’t and some parts of me regret that fact. So in many ways, who am I to talk? However its worth mentioning that in 1973 nearly three in every four members of congress had served in some capacity in the military. In 2023 that had reduced to one in every six, roughly 18% of congress. I believe Congress is a microcosm example of broader America in this regard. As the partisan divides grow so does a lack in civil service participation. While the gross quantity of civil service workers has gone up, the amount of participation compared to what is needed has dropped. I personally believe that the US should have some form of limited compulsory service. I would argue that it doesn’t have to be military, in bureaucratic types of work are also needed. But we need something that rounds out our citizens formative years through participating and serving democracy in some form. Without this I believe our populace is vulnerable to division and anti-democratic sentiments whether propagated from either domestic or foreign entities both on the far-left or the far-right. No longer can any two Americans say the have the exact same media diet. Every American has developed their own version of opinions, truth, or worse yet, facts. Separate sets of believed realities. (You’re merely reading mine right now…) And with this sequestration of reality one can weave threads between someone’s experienced failures of our democratic system. Just as the people of the Weimar Republic experienced heading toward Nazi rule. This is the weaponization of nostalgia. (Or as I’d like to call is Dystalgia) The populism of a mis-remembered by-gone era of greatness that technically never was. Hitler employed this tactic both directly and broadly. And now the US Republican Party leading candidates seem to endorse the same in ways both quiet and blatant. Democracy is simply not a zero-sum game. When it becomes zero-sum, it stops representing its people and start representing its operators. Its the public who must maintain their operator status through participation and both the separation and transfers of power. To put a finer point on this and if you haven’t been educated about Project 2025 yet, consider this your warning.
Hitler-comparisons have become a tired-trope in some respects, I don’t mean to imply that that should be acceptable but the Overton Window on hyperbole has undoubtedly shifted. However, this new iteration feels different. It feels both belligerent and meticulous. It feels both illogical and ideological. Flailing, but intentionally so. Hyperbolic yet sincere. DJT (Using the Voldemort-rule on this site, deal with it) and those functionally adjacent are willing to use the same rhetoric that led to a world-shifting and devastating example of human savagery. I was taught to never forget this. Admittedly, I was not taught that it could happen here, or even happen again for that matter but simply to never forget it. Which cynically leads me to believe that this was taught to those after me even less so. I remember being introduced to the holocaust. I remember learning about the bomb. I remember the week it happened. It was a thing at school. The sophomores are at the World War 2 portion of their history class and were viewing various doses of the horrors that were. It was common knowledge across the student body when this occurred each year for the sophomores. It emotionally impacted my fellow classmates and I as we navigated learning about it or navigated others learning about it. Is that still happening out there in American high schools? I hope so. Because as simply put in the 1982 film Genocide by Simon Wiesenthal “It can happen again.”
I’ve heard an anecdote that if you ask people “Do you think you can describe how a toilet works?” The immediate, perhaps instinctive, answer is usually a confident, sometimes scoffing, yes. But once pressed to do it most people find themselves unable to without sounding like a 5-year-old describing basic shapes. This may be due to the ubiquity of plumbed toilets across modern society that when compared to the entirety of human history, are a newer artifact rather than older and are designed to be inherently user friendly despite their actual engineering specifics that can be intricate or even fragile. But we all know how to drop our shit in a toilet without thinking about it and pushing that flush lever, so we think we know how it works. Well, I believe American democracy has reached this point as well. (I know, I know, nice job Riz, compare democracy to a toilet…great point dude! Literature!)
The broadly general success and stability democracy has shown in the last 300 years compared to the theocratic or monarchical instability and violence of the prior 2,000 years speaks volumes in and of itself. To round out my metaphor about our democracy-toilet, I think we all owe it to ourselves, our guests, and our hardworking plumbers to have some basic knowledge of how our toilets actually work. Then use that knowledge not only to ensure that we can care for our toilets properly but that we can always have a safe place to put all our shit. Democracy requires a sort of routine participation and education in a similar sense. One can’t expect a democracy to work without its plumbers and maintenance. Right now, this all feels vulnerable. Albeit vulnerable due to enough success that bred a complacency, but vulnerable all the same. Enough about shit.
Please promote democracy. Its good enough for fuck sake. And especially so when you turn and look backwards into time. Not to mention its inherently malleable and open to improvements but you just have to get off your ass. Please promote the basics of civic participation. Please don’t troll democracy and its participation. Sure be frustrated about it’s pace, but only if your actually doing something about that. Avoid calling it rigged unless you’re sure and have undisputable proof. Hide your own democratic Easter Eggs for our citizens to find. I believe this to be a fair use of fighting fire with fire. But ultimately I think the only way forwards, past all the autocratic and anti-democratic Easter Eggs laid bare across our discourse of the years post-2020 post-2016 post-2010 post-1992 post-1980 post-1968 post-1935 post-1920 (I’ll stop, sorry.) is to revitalize democracy as a standard-bearer. Lets weaponize the real nostalgia for a time that actually existed, one we can all remember such as the things we made better over time and when the basic acceptance of elections, transfers of power, and compromising legislation were expected. This isn’t a misremembered America, we’ve lead the charge on liberal democracy governinance despite all our faults, failures, and swings of The Great Pendulum. The point is navigating an eternal goal. Not arriving at a final product. The ongoing goal to continue maintaining and improving Our democracy. Ours. Not mine, not yours. Ours. Call out the dystalgia. Call out the Eggs. They. Are. Everywhere.
Stay Honest.